To improve IT visibility and security, the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) of Saudi Arabi has signed a strategic deal with Nexthink at GITEX 2016 as part of the country’s Vision 2030.

Insights MENA

Economic Outlook

To improve IT visibility and security, the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) of Saudi Arabi has signed a strategic deal with Nexthink at GITEX 2016 as part of the country's Vision 2030.

According to the Dubai Statistics Center (DSC), Dubai's education and housing costs have hiked during 2016 by 3.8% and 5.9% respectively. It is worth mentioning that both sectors account for the highest share of expenses.

A Reuters' poll has forecasted that the Egyptian economy is expected to grow at a rate of 3.5% over the fiscal year 2016/2017.

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the UAE economy is expected to grow by 2.3% in 2016 compared to 4% growth rate in the past year.

During its first year of operations, the international financial center of Abu Dhabi has registered and licensed nearly 160 companies from a broad range of industries and sectors.

To finance micro-sized projects, Egypt's Social Fund for Development (SFD) is negotiating 330 MM USD financing package from the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD), and the European Investment Bank (EIB) for funds worth of 50, 200 and 80 MM USD respectively

Oman's central bank is planning to issue 389 MM USD worth of bonds at the end of 2016. It is worth mentioning that the bond issuance is aimed at raising funds to repay a maturing bond issue.

Egypt's central bank has allocated 1.8 BN USD to ensure six months of reserves in all strategic goods after the widespread sugar shortages prompted talk of an impending food crisis.

Abu Dhabi's airport passengers traffic increased by 5% in September 2016 compared to the same period last year reaching 2.1 million passengers. On the other hand, passengers number in Qatar increased by 18.4% compared to September 2015.

Amid a healthy bound in oil prices, Kuwait's trade surplus has expanded in Q2-2016 for the first time during the year from 0.4 BN KWD in Q1-2016 to 1.2 BN KWD.

Oman's banking sector, including Islamic banks, has achieved a robust 11.41% (y-o-y) growth in credit disbursements, which stood at 21.68 BN OMR by the end of August 2016.

In the first nine months of 2016, Morocco's trade deficit has increased by 14.3% reaching 13.7 BN USD compared to the same period of 2015 due to higher imports.

Qatar's inflation rate has dropped by 2.6% in September 2016 compared to the last month. This was mainly driven by a 2% drop in food and beverage prices.

Political Events

Brigadier General Adel Rajai, commander of the Ninth Armed Division in northern Sinai was assassinated, in front of his home in Obour.

Qatar's former Emir Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani passed away at the age of 84. Three days of national mourning will be observed in honor of Sheikh Khalifa, who was the grandfather of the current Emir.

The Lebanese intelligence agency has detained eight Syrians over being accused of plotting suicide bomb attacks at popular tourist spots and on Lebanon's United Nations peacekeeping force.

Iran has supplied Yemen's Houthi group with weapons amid their fight against the Saudi-backed government militia. This move threatens to prolong and intensify the 19-month-old war.

Qatar has enacted a new investment law which allows non-Qataris to invest up to 100% of any project capital in all sectors of the national economy provided they have a Qatari services agent.

Stock Market

.QSI's real estate sector advanced driven by United Development and Mazaya Qatar. In addition, the banking sector levelled up led by Khaleeji Commercial Bank.

Companies Transactions

Egyptian authorities seized about 2,000 tons of sugar from Edita Food Industries S.A.E. Shares of the company, which produces Twinkies and Ho Hos among other snacks, declined by 6.7% at the start of trading on the Egyptian stock market. It is worth to note that the sugar shortage has led the prices doubled to 10 EGP per kilogram.

Nakilat Shipping Qatar Limited (NSQL) has signed an agreement with Shell International Trading and Shipping Company Limited (Shell) to begin the planned phased transition of the management of Nakilat's LNG fleet from Shell to NSQL.

Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) is planning to provide 50,000 jobs for Omani nationals in non-oil sectors. The initiative will build on PDO's success in supporting the creation of over 22,000 jobs for Omanis over the past 5 years.

Zain, Kuwait's biggest telecoms operator in terms of subscribers, reported a 12% rise in Q3-2016 net profits generating a net profit of 43 MM KWD in the three month until the 30th of September 2016.

According to the Egyptian Refining Company (ERC), the company anticipated that 3.7 BN USD oil refinery project will save the country between 1.5-1.8 BN USD and is expected to contribute to solve the country's dollar crisis.

The chairman of Banque Misr has announced that the bank has prohibited the use of its credit and debit cards abroad to rationalize the use of dollars abroad due to the country's exchange rate crisis.

Sports and Culture

To preserve national heritage, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, announced the launch of the national campaign 'Let's Preserve the Legacy'.

According to the innovation index, Dubai was ranked 16th in the field of innovation and creativity among its 28 global peers which are considered the most prominent players in the field.

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